HK student activists jailed for contempt of court

HONG KONG – The city’s High Court on Wednesday ordered imprisonment and fines for 16 protesters in the illegal Occupy movement in 2014, including the student activist leader Joshua Wong Chi-fung, for refusing to obey a court order to clear the occupied areas.

They were all sentenced to terms ranging from one month to four and a half months, with some fined HK$10,000 or HK$15,000, the court ordered. Wong was sentenced to three months in jail.

All of them refused to leave the occupied area despite a court injunction sought by local taxi groups. Consequently, they were all guilty of criminal contempt of court.

The 79-day illegal mass occupation led to a community outcry after the protesters took over major business thoroughfares in the city’s Admiralty, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok areas.